Half time entertainment by Can't Face the FallingPublic after party on site with DJ Boo Boo Danger

Boston Derby Dames' second season kicks off with an all-star bout between the Massacre and the visiting Dominion Derby Girls All-Stars . The Massacre have fared well against opponents from below the Mason-Dixon line, with home track wins against Baltimore's Charm City Rollergirls in April and Atlanta's All Stars in June. Will the Dominion Derby Girls All-Stars be able to prove that Virginia isn't just for lovers, or will Boston's quad-skate militia once again bring the beatdown on their nemesisters from the south?

Providence's emo-influenced rockers, the all-female Can't Face the Falling, play two minisets during period breaks. Fans of Cursive and Death Cab for Cutie take note, and check out their tunes on MySpace. And, as always, everyone is invited to the on-site Fez Room for an after party with DJ Boo Boo Danger.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

I've always wanted to go to Burning Man, but never quite found the time or energy (plus I always kind of thought I wasn't cool enough to pull it off). Apparently there was roller derby there last year (maybe this year, too), which made me think -- maybe I'm cool enough now that I'm a derby girl. Not that I wasn't cool before, but now I feel cool. I love the fact that somebody made a track in the middle of the desert (why can't we just make a track in the middle of Boston?). Anyway, here's the video:

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Lead Jammer pointed out this silly website today -- lollergirls. I especially like the Febreeze one, as I currently believe Febreeze is the most amazing thing ever -- I spray my pads and helmet with Febreeze after every practice and it smells fantastic. I have literally never washed the things and (at the beginning of practice, anyway) they smell brand new. It's magic. I think Febreeze should make a commercial with roller derby girls talking about their stinky pads. It would be awesome.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

I've got a link for you to add to your Derby bookmarks: ViaDerby, a new content/commerce site that is "committed to strengthening roller derby leagues, growing the sport internationally and supporting the roller derby communities."Via Derby was started by Estro Jen (Angel City Derby Girls) and a few of her trouble-makin' cohorts. It's got a pretty graphic design, and the makings of some deep content:

There's also an interviews section called Wreckognize which right now features an interview with... ahem... ME!In addition to a welcoming "we're all in this together" tone in the editorial, the site also puts its money where its big Derby mouth is. Via is committed to raising cash for Derby-good causes, and will donate a portion of its proceeds to three organizations:

Thursday, August 23, 2007

There have been several changes in my roller derby experience since beginning a few months ago. I'd like to try and keep track of these things as I go along, so here are some things I have been thinking about lately:

New stuff

when i first starting practicing for tryouts, I was so disgusted with the rental skates that I bought a pair of roller skates from Amazon.com. After a bit of research, I decided to go with the Riedell R3 skate, which seemed to be on the low end of the price line from Riedell, which was on the high end of skates in general. I didn't want to go overboard with buying something super fancy, and these got good reviews, so I bought them sight unseen. Overall I have been very happy with them. Until recently (see below) I have had absolutely no problems with blisters. They're comfy and so much better than the rental skates that I was in pure heaven.

of course, once I started skating more, I began to see problems with them. I really didn't like the toe stops that came with them. And everyone kept telling me to get faster wheels and bearings. I am very slow (compared to everyone else) but I mostly figured this was because I am way out of shape. After enough people said this to me, I decided to take the plunge.

Buying new wheels (for a newbie, anyway) is ridiculously complicated and confusing. There are so many different kinds of wheels and so many different opinions about what is better for some situations as opposed to other situations, that it just gave me a headache. I eventually went ahead and bought a set of Fugitives (Blue) as well as a set of faster bearings (Bones Reds), and new toe stops (Snyder). I have had this new equipment for about a week now and am overall very pleased. The wheels and bearings are definitely faster. Not a ton faster, but I definitely notice a difference. The toe stops are also a huge improvement. I definitely prefer the round toe stops to the weird triangular ones that came with my skates. I'm still slower than everyone else, but I do feel like I'm keeping up a little better!

New aches and pains

I was so ridiculously sore after my first real practice (and tryouts!). After a few weeks I started to get less sore after each practice. Yay, I thought, I'm getting better, more fit. Then, suddenly, I've started to get new pains. For the past few weeks I've started to consistently get a blister on my right instep. And my knees are really hurting, and last night I just about died from back pain in my lower left side. I never had any of these problems before. So what's up? My new theory (given to me by Vicious, my freshmeat teammate) is that it's just because I'm working harder. I'm using my right foot to push more, I'm bending more, and I'm skating harder. All of which means new pains. But I am convincing myself that this is a good thing and will hopefully work itself out.

New friends

If you know me at all, you know that trying out for roller derby is one of the bravest things I've ever done in my life. Not because roller derby is scary and violent and painful (which bothers me not at all -- in fact, I kind of like it), but because I am terrified of new people and new situations. Put me in a new social situation and I sometimes have panic attacks. Real, honest to goodness, panic attacks. It was extremely difficult for me to go to the clinics, walk up to strangers, ask people for help, and in general throw myself into this whirlwind of social interaction. I tried to get a friend to come with me, but I think I scared her off after I broke my arm. Once I got on the team, it was just as scary. Do they like me? Why isn't anyone talking to me? What the hell do I say to this person? Did I just come across as a bitch? I know, I know, I have issues. Big gaping issues. All of which is to say that one of the nicest changes in my roller derby experience is an overall lessening of my social anxiety, a feeling that I am actually making friends, and a growing sense of belonging. Yay!

Shortly before the Heartland Havoc, WFTDA ratified version 2.1.1 (PDF, 200kb) of the official flat track roller derby rules. This revision includes only a handful of minor changes to the 2.1, mostly intended to fix typos and close loopholes. All Heartland Havoc bouts were played under version 2.1.1.

The key changes/clarifications:

Teams are now allowed to bring up to 20 skaters to a tournament. No more than 14 may play in any given bout during the tournament, but successive rounds may use different groups of 14 skaters, with the caveat that a skater who plays a bout but not the following bout is done for the tournament. This follows a general trend in WFTDA to allow the best skaters available to a team to play, and allow more to participate in a given event.

Minor penalties are no longer whistled. This reflects a decision voted on previously by WFTDA but which didn't make it into the 2.1 document due to a production or editing error. Only major penalties are whistled, minor penalties only get a hand signal.

Tweaks to the lead jammer qualifications to better account for situations raised by "any-pass" type scoring.

After the extended labor pains leading from WFTDA rules 1.0 through the stillbirth of 2.0 to the eventual emergence of 2.1, it's nice to see a few changes clear the process with relative easy. I'm very excited to be around for the evolution and refinement of what's essentially a new sport. It's great to watch the process of small (or larger) innovations tested out by individual leagues gaining acceptance as an improvement and eventually being incorporated into the standard document... reminds me of the open source software development model in ways I intend to write more about one of these days.

IMHO, the biggest change in 2.1.1 is that it's now specified that a jammer going out out of bounds for any reason before getting within 20 feet of the pack becomes ineligible for lead jammer... at Havoc I saw a LOT of jammers attempting to take advantage of this rule by immediately blocking the opposing jammer after the start whistle rather than sprinting all-out towards the pack. From a personal perspective, I'm not 100 percent certain I like rule changes that make the game even more jammer-centric than it already is, but it does appear that derby audiences like jammer-on-jammer action, so from that perspective it's an excellent clarification.

Half time entertainment by Can't Face the FallingPublic after party on site with DJ Boo Boo Danger

Boston Derby Dames' second season kicks off with an all-star bout between the Massacre and the visiting MK-5 travel team of Virginia's Dominion Derby Girls. The Massacre have fared well against opponents from below the Mason-Dixon line, with home track wins against Baltimore's Charm City Rollergirls in April and Atlanta's All Stars in June. Will the MK-5 be able to prove that Virginia isn't just for lovers, or will Boston's quad-skate militia once again bring the beatdown on their nemesisters from the south?

Providence's emo-influenced rockers, the all-female Can't Face the Falling, play two minisets during period breaks. Fans of Cursive and Death Cab for Cutie take note, and check out the tunes at http://www.myspace.com/cantfacethefalling. And, as always, everyone is invited to the on-site Fez Room for an after party with DJ Boo Boo Danger.

How better to kick off the Boston Derby Dames second season than with a midnight viewing of the 1979 roller disco cult classic Roller Boogie? Linda Blair's rich girl Terry Barkley falls for poor but smokin' hot skating champion Bobby James in this dayglo love story about kids banding together to save their beloved roller disco from evil developers. The opening sequence of jam skaters cruising Venice Beach is enough to inspire anyone to throw away their inlines.

Dust off your Danskin leotard and join the Dames on Friday, September 14 at midnight. It'll be a visual cluster-funk of velour rompers, feathered hair, headphones as big as Frisbees, and more male camel toe than you can shake a polyester pantsuit at. Not only will the city's sassiest athletes be on hand, but they're bringing roller derby shwag and cupcakes to boot. Can you handle it?

Saturday, August 18, 2007

In a nearly perfectly matched bout that featured numerous lead changes and a literally last-second effort to tie the bout in the final instants of regulation, the 9th-seeded Detroit Derby Girls needed overtime to squeak past the 8th-seeded Boston Massacre, 104 to 99.

From the beginning of this bout, it was clear that it'd be a tight contest -- Boston's Sarah Doom gave the Massacre a quick 4-0 lead with a win over Rock Candy, but the lead immediately switched hands when Racer McChaseher went 9-0 over Maura Buse. Detroit was then clinging to a small lead for the rest of the period. On Jam 5, Boston's Claire D. Way momentarily tied it up at 20 by going 4-0 over Detroit's Killbox, but two jams later, Detroit's Rock Candy got two grand slams over Maura Buse to give Detroit their biggest lead of the bout at 32-22. Boston kept chipping away at that lead, though, and the period ended with Detroit just 4 points ahead of the Massacre, 36 to 32.

Detroit would only be able to hold on to their lead for the first two jams of the second period, and then Boston's Maura Buse tied it up at 44 with a 8-0 jam over Summers Eve-L. With Summers stuck in the box to start the next jam, Boston team captain Sarah Doom then dropped two grand slams on Detroit for a 10-0 jam that gave Boston their biggest lead of the bout at 54-44. At that point Detroit seemed to switch strategies, relying almost exclusively on Racer McChaseher and Cookie Rumble at the jammer line for the rest of the period. It paid off, with Detroit grabbing lead jammer on 4 out of the last 6 jams of the period and closing to within just one point at 63-62 before Boston's Sarah Doom gave the Massacre a little bit of daylight with a 5-0 jam over Cookie Rumble to close the half, putting Boston up 68-62.

Boston managed to fight off the Detroit attack through the majority of the third period. Detroit managed to momentarily grab a one-point lead with about 13 minutes to go at 78-77, but Sarah Doom spearheaded a 14-5 Boston run that made the score Boston 92, Detroit 83 with about 6 minutes left to play. However, that was when Massacre's jammer Sarah Doom took an unfortunately timed trip to the penalty box and Detroit's Honey Suckit navigated her way through a very strung-out pack to pick up 11 points (two of them grand slams on Doom), giving Detroit the slimmest of leads at 93-92. Detroit's Racer McChaseher followed that up with a 2-1 win over Maura Buse, which moved the score to Detroit 95, Boston 93 with about three minutes left on the clock. With the next two jams ending 0-0 as Detroit lead jammers protected the lead, it came down to Boston's Sarah Doom against Detroit's Racer McChaseher on the jam line with only about a minute left to play and only two points separating the teams. It was Detroit's Racer McChaseher who got off the line first and looked ready to break the pack and get a win-sealing lead jammer call, but she picked up a fourth minor for cutting track just as she exited on her opening pass, earning a trip to the penalty box and driving an already uproarious crowd into a genuine frenzy. With Sarah Doom jamming unopposed, the only question was whether she could begin scoring before time expired, and as the announcers counted down the remaining ticks on the clock, Doom finally reached the pack, passed one blocker legally, passed another out of bounds, and tumbled past another just as time expired -- earning 2 points and sending the game into overtime.

In the overtime jam, it was Maura Buse who lined up unopposed for Boston, but Racer McChaseher's penalty was almost over, and Racer exploded out of the penalty box to break the pack before Maura could. The Detroit defense made a stalwart stand, allowing Racer to lap Maura, and at the end of the full two minutes, Racer had scored 9 points to Maura's 4, giving Detroit a dramatic win in what was easily the most thrilling bout of the opening day.

I am sitting at work, trying to do, you know, work, while at the same time checking out the LeadJammer Liveblog of Heartland Havoc. So cool. Boston is up in about twenty minutes or so and I am so nervous! Go Boston!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Really exciting news for fans of flat track roller derby who've exhausted their travel budget and/or vacation time: WFTDA's East Regional and National tournaments will be televised. Just this morning, after extensive negotiation and discussion, member leagues voted to approve a deal with Mav TV covering the remaining 2007 tournaments. The events will be shot to tape and edited for broadcast within a few weeks of each event. Each bout will be broadcast as a separate episode, so you'll be able to enjoy all the action from each of the bouts.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Now that I've picked my roller derby name (I'm not telling yet until it is official) I am releasing my working list of un-picked names for anyone out there to use for ideas or whatever. If anyone wants to add to the list, feel free. Update: I just pulled the names from Jessie's comment and added them to the post, so they are more obvious. I'll keep adding to the list if any more names are submitted. Cheers!

(UN)EVE N. KEELE

ANGER MANAGEMENT

ANN E. MAUL

ANN E. MAUL O’TRACTION

ANNA CAREENYA

ANNE O'DYNE

ANNE SANITEEPLEE

ANNIE MOSSITY

ATTENTION DEFICIT DISORDER

BARB DWIER

BELLE ON WHEELS

BLACK BEAST OF AARRGH

BLAZE O’GORY

BLIGHT RYDER

BLINDSIDED BY SCIENCE

BONNIE B. BAD

BRAT FROM HELL

BRAWL OF THE WILD

BRAWL REVERE

BRUTALITY DISORDER

CAROLYNN SLAY-US

CHERRY AWESOME

DEATH KNELL YEOH

DI HAVOC

DI O'BOLIC

DI ROLLER DISORDER

DIRTY BOMB SHELLY

DORIS SLAY

DREAD HERRING

DREAD RYDER

DREAD SONJA

E. LEVENTHAUER

E. O. KILLSOME

EILEEN ONYU

ELLE ON WHEELS

ELLE WRATHNO FURY

ELLIS DEE

EVE O’LOOSHUNARY

EVE O'LUTION

FATALITY DISORDER

FAYE TALL O’TRACTION

FAYE TALLITY

FERAL BUELLER

FRAY WRAY

FRIDA N. SLAP

GENEVA CONCUSSION

GENEVA CONTUSSION

GENEVA DISSENSION

GINA EBOLA-BRIGIDA

GORE HEYERDAHL

HARM N. MIRANDA

HARM OFFENSIVE

HARM URSOKSOV

HARMAGEDDON

HELEN BACK

HELL CURVE

HERMIONE HAVOC

HILLARY SHANK

HURT DEVIL

IPSO CRACK-HO

JOAN VON PAINE

JOANNE O'WAR

KAI HAVOC

KILLER B. KILLED

LAUREN B. BRAWL

LAVA FLO

LIKE HELL YEOH

LOLA CONSTRICTOR

LOLA THE ROLLAH

LUNA TICK

LYNN SANITEE-D’FENS

MARGARET MISDEED

MARGE N. O’TERROR

MAUL OF THE WILD

MINNIE HURL

MISS CHIEF

MISTY MEANOR

NATALIE NOGOOD

PAM FEAR

RHODA HELL

ROCK MOBSTER

ROXXY ELBOW-YA

ROXY ROUGH-N-TUMBLE

ROXY ROUGHRIDER

SHA NA NASTY

SHADY BUG

SIGOURNEY CLEAVE HER

SLAM GRIER

SLAPPY GILMORE

SNARL LINNAEUS

SNARLS DARWIN

SOJOURNER RUTHLESS

SPAWN TIKI

SPLAT D. BUNNY

STOMPY JONES

TEQUILA SLAMMER

THE SMACKSONOMIST

TIA CAREENYA

UNHOLY ROLLER

UNNATURAL SELECTION

VERONICA QUAKE

VI O'HAZZARD

VOLCANIC ASHLEY

Dungeons and Dragons References:

Dawn Gin Master

Dawn Jen Master

DunJen Master

Dawn J. Master

Dungeon MixMaster

Dungeon Master Blaster

Dungeon Master of puppets

Dungeon Master of the house

Dungeon Master piece

Dungeon Master mind

Dungeon Master of the universe

Broad Sword

Chaotic Eva (or Evie, Evilyn)

Evilyn Chain (# could be +5)

Minotara

Carnivorpal

Bea Holder

Carrie Ann Crawler

Roll Player

Anita Cleric

Warhammer 40k Ork References:

Dakka Dakka Dolly

Dolly dead 'ard

Killa Kans (# for all three of the above could be "lotz")

Video Game References:

Leigh Genda Zelda

Legendre Zelda

Leigh Gendazelda

Leigon Dazelda

Emma Bison

Slammus Aran

Mortal KomBette

Flawless Victoria Fatality

Street Fight-Her

Heihashe

Tekken U-Out

Mega ManGler

Mega Manhandle

Mega Mandible

Meg A. Mann

Cuntra, Contramp, Contrain, Contra-la-la (# could be up up down down left right left right b a start)

Sunday, August 5, 2007

Here's a picture I call, "Bruised rollergirl at the end of a Saturday at Horseneck Beach with insufficient sunscreen, again (2007 version)". It's also known to .gif art scholars as "OMG I think I just left some ass cheek skin on that chair when I stood up please give me more tequila immediately."